IWA 34:2021

Women's entrepreneurship — Key definitions and general criteria

Scope

This document establishes a set of common definitions related to women's entrepreneurship, such as those for women-owned business and women-led business. This document also defines women-led cooperatives and women-led informal enterprises. These definitions can be used, for example, in women's economic empowerment programmes (such as procurement and trade programmes) and for the collection of internationally comparable data on women's entrepreneurship (including the impact on local and national economies). This document also provides criteria for evaluating important factors related to these definitions, such as ownership, management, and control, as well as how to handle dilution by investment.
NOTE If an enterprise cannot be categorized according to the definitions given in this document, it does not necessarily mean that the enterprise is male-owned or male-led.
This document does not provide recommendations on how to initiate programmes based on the definitions and criteria, for example on public procurement. In addition, this document does not address issues such as how to promote conformity assessment.